Main Street project causing confusion in Southborough

Wednesday

Mar 12, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Brad PetrishenDaily News Staff

SOUTHBOROUGH – Confusion abounded Tuesday night during a fragmented and at times contentious discussion about whether a scheduled state-funded overhaul of Main Street deserves a second look."I’m not sure anybody really knows what’s happening there, besides (the Public Works Department)," former Selectwoman Bonnie Phaneuf said after a long discussion about the $5.6 million project.Town officials have been working since 2007 to convince the state to fund improvements to the street, which they say needs a litany of traffic, layout and drainage improvements.After two different consultants produced plans aimed at securing state funding, selectmen ultimately approved a plan in 2010. The state last year agreed to fund the plan, and placed it on a list of projects approved for funding beginning in 2017.Recently, former selectman and Planning Board member David Parry has been leading an effort to take a second look. Parry believes it is too broad in scope, and recently submitted citizen petitions for Town Meeting aiming at creating a committee to review the plan and suggest alternatives.Parry said more than 150 people signed his petitions. He told selectmen Tuesday that the project would create a "bigger, wider, straighter, faster" road, which he said would be less safe and degrade the aesthetics of the town.DPW Superintendent Karen Galligan said the project wouldn’t widen the road as much as some people think. She said the project is necessary for the road, and that, even if it was reduced in scope, would still cost around $3 million.Selectmen John Rooney said it wasn’t clear to him from currently available plans just how drastic the change in the road would be. Parry insisted that the change would be significant, but Selectman Vice Chairman Bill Boland disagreed."That happens to be your opinion," Boland said after Parry said he thought town officials were "sticking their heads in the sand" in an effort to get state funding.Boland, who had a tense exchange with Parry over the subject at a recent Planning Board meeting, said he believes the plan has been thoroughly vetted over the course of many public meetings.But Historic Commissioner Kate Matison said she went to many of those meetings and felt neighbors weren’t satisfied with the results."The residents were not happy with some of those decisions, and the witness to that is this petition," she said.Galligan said the town will be holding a meeting in early April to try to make the plans more clear. At the moment, the town is scheduled for a state progress hearing on the project for April 30 – a meeting some officials worry could jeopardize state funding if the state senses opposition from residents.Brad Petrishen can be reached at 508-490-7463 or bpetrishen@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @BPetrishen_MWDN.